Terrace of the River
At 1,250 meters above sea level, in a lower montane forest on the eastern foothills of Llanganates National Park—at the northern edge of Pastaza Province—there exist around 800 species of vascular and endemic plants.

Among them are palm species such as chonta, pambil, and killi: natural resources that have long shaped the identity and imagination of ancestral Amazonian peoples, widely used as structural pillars in their vernacular constructions.

Within this natural context, the presence of water bodies is common. Small streams and consolidated rivers have drawn a population committed to environmental conservation, who have established small refuges, shelters, and reserves dedicated to animal rescue and ecological protection.

On a 4.5-hectare site, a young family is developing a sustainable tourism project that will gradually consolidate over time. As a first intervention, the need arose for a transition space along one of the routes leading to Llanganates National Park.

The project is conceived as a dynamic meeting point adaptable to multiple uses. The space invites transient visitors to inhabit it freely, allowing it to function as a meeting or dining room, a camping site, or even a retreat center for spiritual gatherings. Set on an irregular topography above and facing a small stream, the project unfolds as an open, covered platform immersed in nature, organized into two areas: a semi-enclosed service zone containing storage, bathroom, shower, and changing room; and an open area that defines the multi-purpose space.

Oriented toward the East, the project adopts a volumetry commonly found in vernacular constructions—a form that captures the first rays of morning sunlight to generate warmth in a climate characterized by mist and constant rainfall. The gabled roof ensures quick rainwater runoff for later storage and use in service areas.

Killi trunks harvested from the site itself, along with stones from the stream, form the natural materials of the structure. Through a mixed construction system built by artisans—carpenters, stonemasons, and welders—the process brings together resources provided by the natural and urban context, seeking to recover a local identity that is increasingly at risk of being lost.

The project rethinks contemporary practices rooted in vernacular traits and logics—an architecture that, through artisanal labor, local materials, and the matter offered by its context, promotes a collective way of inhabiting, immersed in the wild.